Despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping more than 130 points on Tuesday, shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) closed in positive territory. Jefferies analyst Ross MacMillan struck a bullish tone on Microsoft, noting that “the stage is set for a series of value creating events to unfold over the next 18 months.” He gave Microsoft a Buy rating and hiked the price target to $42 from $33. A new operating structure with greater transparency was cited as one of the events, while MacMillan sees the potential for better portfolio focus: which assets should remain as core and what should be viewed as non-core, etc. Microsoft shares are up nearly 30 percent this year.